Charisse,
Our oldest went to a charter school for half of kindergarden because I took a job there as a financial manager. The teacher seemed very nice but I noticed that her handwriting was becoming almost illegible (it had been extremely neat even though she was left handed). Two weeks before the end of school I found out that he had been forcing her to write with her right hand. I am still trying to get her handwriting to be neat again.
We a distance learning charter school for third but became very frustrated with the rigidity of the program and put them back in a regular charter. Even though she had finished 3rd they would not let her go into 4th because she was 7 so they insisted on her redoing 2nd which I wouldn't allow so we compromised on 3rd, but they would put her up in a higher math and reading. That lasted two weeks and it was too much trouble for the teacher so she spent the rest of the year redoing the same work again.
We decided to homeschool again but got frustrated and tried another distance learning charter. Same frustration again, plus the teacher took a dislike to us when she found out that we were Christian (she was Muslim) as if that should have mattered with school. We finally withdrew and went to complete homeschooling. Again we became frustrated, as we had no clue what to do, and after several months we tried another charter school. The girls went for two weeks and again were frustrated. They wouldn't let our oldest into 4th grade because she was only 8. Two weeks passed and she asked if they had to go to school. They both agreed to try harder to learn at home. (they made quite a list of promises
We withdrew and decided to homeschool completely. I decided to let them unschool, actually deschool so that they could come to love learning again. Then we tried some unit studies, and then back in the summer I discovered Charlotte Mason and Ambleside online.
I have nothing against the charter schools, but as I look at what they teach in certain subjects I get frustrated. Having worked in Kindergarden as an aide and using the Houghton Mifflin reading, I didn't want my girls using it. I watched our K students get confused with the sight words. And the stories were pointless.
I got frustrated with the history - boring!
I just didn't want my children using the curriculum at all. We are really enjoyign the whole books. My oldest has even gotten into searching ebay with me for vintage books. Like we needed another bibliophile in the house.
Cara
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